A manhole is generally covered with a round, cast metal cover that weighs up to, or more than 200 pounds, and in some cases more than 300 pounds. Because of the weight, lifting the cover by hand to enter the manhole for maintenance is very difficult. If the cover is stuck to the top of the manhole by tar, grime, ice, or such, the cover can not be moved at all until loosened. The cover may have slots in its top with a rod transverse in each slot, or several round drain holes in the top. The rods and drain holes can be used as an aid when removing the cover from the manhole.
Patents have issued for tools that may be used in the slots and drain holes to help a worker to extract the cover. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,684 discloses a tool which uses a key, extension combination in which the key is inserted into a drain hole and engages the under side of the cover. The extension is connected to adjustment holes in the key and applies a fulcrum to lift one side of the cover. The tool requires additional apparatus attached to the tool for extracting the cover. Such a tool must be very substantial in construction if the fulcrum it produces is to lift such weight or to loosen a stuck cover. The additional parts required to be attached to the tool require additional work time to extract the cover from the manhole. U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,338 discloses a hook that is inserted into a drain hole to contact the under side of the cover. It is connected to a foot lever that is separated from the hook by a fulcrum point. When the foot lever is stepped upon, the lever and created fulcrum will lift a side of the cover. It is suggested that two workers may be required to stand on the lever to effectively use the tool to loosen and lift a cover.
Because of the weight of the cover, such tools must be of a very sturdy construction to be used to lift a cover that weighs several hundred pounds, without considering fact that the tool must also be used to loosen a stuck cover. The cover is most often extracted by sliding the cover away from the manhole after a side is lifted. In most worker applications a hammer, or other tool for pounding, is used to loosen the cover before any attempt is made to lift the cover. A crowbar, or any other handy pry bar, is then used to lift and slide the cover away from the manhole. The use of several different tools, or a tool with multiple parts, to extract the cover can result in wasted time because the tools are inappropriate for the job, or it takes repeated trips back and forth to a maintenance truck from the manhole to retrieve a different tool or parts of a tool. Also, there is the possibly of endangering a worker caught in traffic going back and forth, as many manholes are located in streets with heavy traffic.
An appropriate tool for such a job is an all-in-one tool that is easy to carry and can be used to loosen a cover that is stuck to the manhole top and be used to lift a side of the cover. Then, while maintaining contact with the cover, it is to be used to slide the cover away from the manhole.
Therefore an object of my invention is to provide an all-in-one tool that can be used to loosen the cover when it is stuck to the manhole and be used to lift a side of the cover from the manhole, then be used to slide the cover from the manhole while continuously maintaining contact with the cover.
A feature of my invention is it that it is an easy to carry, one-piece tool used to loosen a cover that is stuck to the manhole and then to extract the cover from the manhole.
Another feature of the invention is that when it is used it engages the rod or drain hole inner wall so that it will not slip when used to lift an edge of the cover and then slide it free from the manhole.
Another feature is that the tool is cast of heavy steel of size that when used to strike the cover, the size and weight produce force to easily loosen a cover that is stuck to the manhole.